Chelsea are struggling to get over the problems caused by adjusting to playing
in a different time zone ahead of Thursday's Club World Cup semi-final
against Monterrey of Mexico.

Chelsea manager Rafael Benítez says the team is still adjusting to the time change after arriving on Sunday on the long trip from London.

"My players are focusing on trying to sleep," said Benitez.

"We are trying to adapt to the time, pitch and ball. Everything is new."

With Chelsea also in the midst of a punishing schedule of fixtures and facing injury problems in key positions, interim manager Benitez could be forgiven for resting several of his stars against a side that should be beaten in any event.

But the Spaniard was determined to field as strong a line-up as possible at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.

Asked whether he would play a team of youngsters tomorrow, he said: "No, I intend to win. I'll pick players to win the first game.

"You cannot think about the final until you've won the semi-final."

Benitez, who is managing at the competition for the third time, added of his squad: "My experience in this tournament is to assess them the day before, see how they feel and you can see some players are fresher than others.

"I don't have an idea now as to who I will play."

Chelsea will meet Concacaf champion Monterrey in Yokohama. The Mexican side defeated Asian Champions League winner Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

As Champions League winners, Chelsea are seeded into the semifinals along with South American champion Corinthians.

The Brazilian side beat Egypt's Al-Ahly 1-0 on Wednesday to advance to the final.

Paolo Guerrero scored what proved to be the only goal shortly before the half-hour mark but the Copa Libertadores winners found themselves firmly under the cosh for most of the remaining hour of play.

Al Ahly goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy was guilty of wasting precious time for the Egyptian champions in the second half, delaying his own inevitable substitution due to injury and disrupting his team's rhythm as Ramy Rabia, Mohamed Aboutrika and Walid Soliman attempted to force extra-time.

Rabia had showed his promise in the early stages, racing onto Soliman's free kick to head just wide of Cassio's goal, but Corinthians soon seized the initiative.

Danilo and Fabio Santos both conspired to miss from close range but Guerrero had the ball in the back of the net in the 29th minute, the Peruvian heading home Douglas' lofted cross to get the 15,000 travelling Brazilian fans in the party mood.

Al Ahly tried to squeeze in an equaliser before the break but Fabio Santos broke up a fine passing move between Soliman and Ahmed Fathi.

The Egyptians made a positive start to a second period that they would dominate, Soliman slightly over-hitting a pass to Geddo at the far post.

Ekramy soon slumped to the ground in his own penalty area, with medics tending to a suspected leg injury for several minutes, but the Al Ahly keeper decided to continue.

Rabia powered his way into a central position to fire narrowly wide of Cassio's goal following fine work from substitute Aboutrika, but the heavy pressure soon dissipated as Ekramy decided to call time on his own contribution after all.

The protracted distraction over, Al Ahly got back into their groove but could not carve out the equaliser their creative play deserved.

Fathi struck the side netting from Aboutrika's defence-splitting pass, before the veteran striker saw his own firm effort deflected behind for a corner ahead of Soliman's long-range drive, which dipped wide.

With four minutes remaining, Rabia roamed into the box one final time, finding the space to clip home a late leveller but instead firing over the bar to hand Corinthians a first final appearance since 2000.